It wasn’t intentional, but over our Christmas roadtrip, we seemed to visit quite a few cathedrals. Not for spiritual reasons, you understand. We love a cathedral for its architecture and gloriously over the top rich interiors. First stop was one we know very well – Durham Cathedral. Having grown up near here, it’s a place […]
We first discovered the beautiful medieval city of Metz, two years ago, on our first road trip from Istria to England, for Christmas. Positioned where it is, in north eastern France, it was a good place to stop and break up the journey to Calais. We’ve stayed a few times since – and although there […]
One of the best things about living on the continent now, is that we can completely dispense with flights. I think there are few things, travel-wise, more stressful, than the whole airport experience, of checking in, security, hanging around, queueing – and then at the end of it, you’re squashed into a cramped seat, generally […]
We’ve made a few trips back to England since we moved out to Istria, and we’ve just completed our second road trip. Driving is definitely not the quickest way to get back, but it’s surprisingly less stressful than flying. And especially landing in a UK airport. Specifically Manchester… Last time we drove, we headed across […]
We had originally planned to end our winter road trip in Ravenna, in Italy, spending four days at Alighieri Theatre Charming Suite but we felt that we had been on the road long enough, and so, in very nice communcations with Silvia, the owner, decided to postpone until later in the year. However, we also […]
We said au revoir to La Rochelle and set off for Carcassonne, in the region of Occitanie. We decided to do the toll roads – smaller roads are great for sightseeing, but when the weather’s not brilliant, there’s not much to see. Just as well, because by the time we reached where we were staying […]
From Plougasnou, after saying goodbye to our Didsbury friends, we headed south-west to La Rochelle, capital of the Charente-Maritime department. The plan had been to take in the Carnac Stones and make a return to the beautiful Vannes, characterized by narrow cobbled streets and medieval gates and half timbered houses. But again, the weather conspired […]
With Christmas over, and a brilliant time had in Manchester and the North East, we set off on the long journey, by car, back to Istria. Luckily, we’d planned ahead and scheduled in some great stops, the first being spending New Year with friends in Brittany. The journey from Manchester to Portsmouth was pretty uneventful […]
Chamonix has long been on my radar, but not being skiers, and always assuming only the super-rich stayed in such places, it’s never been part of a journey. Until now, and our road trip back from Istria to the UK. We wanted to make as much distance as we could early on in the trip, […]
Troyes is a town in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. Its medieval old town features narrow, cobbled streets lined with colorful, half-timbered houses, mostly dating from the 16th century. The town is home to several Gothic churches with striking stained-glass windows. These include the Troyes Cathedral, the Église Sainte-Madeleine and the Basilique Saint-Urbain. […]
Snow makes me very excited. You would have thought I might be used to it, as we did get some very heavy downfalls in the North East when I was a child. But, there is still something very magical about the first few flakes of the year – and in Didsbury, in my adulthood, you […]
We were up with the larks this morning – no mean feat as our builder popped by late last night to discuss some new ideas (wine & beer were involved) – and packing the car as we’ve never packed before. We’re not instinctively organised travellers. We can arrive on a beach with not a flip […]